The tale of the mobile sale!

There was a time when I loved changing my mobile every time a new gadget hit the market. That was during the initial years of the millenium when mobiles were a new thing and every new model brought something different to the table. I waited eagerly for upgrades and innovations and used all my savings(saved miserly from monthly budget while in college) towards buying a new mobile. Nowadays, after the dawn of the mobile revolution,  there are so many models that look almost alike; the motivation is lesser and confusion more but nevertheless, I still like to own a decent, value-for-money, good spec mobile and not the same one for long.

The hobby is not only expensive but also creates a huge problem- what to do with the old handset? Dump it? But then it is working perfectly fine. Keep it? And do what…the possibility of it becoming an antique or anything of value is remote. Gift it? To family maybe but all of them have one already. Sell it? That sounds good and economically viable too!! It was suggested by Mehta ji, the owner of the store I very loyally bought my mobiles from. Although he did not even offer half the amount for the mobile I had bought a couple of months ago from him, it still felt good. I stopped changing my mobile and began exchanging instead. I was quite happy with my achievement till a friend told me that he had sold off his mobile to another person directly by advertising in the newspaper at a significantly higher price than what shopkeepers were offering him. I could do that too!! I gave him the details of my existing handset and requested him to advertise. After a couple of days, I received a call.

‘Hello’, a male voice at the other end said.

‘Hi!’

‘I saw your ad about the phone’

‘Alright.’ I tried to contain my excitement. It was happening!

‘So, Samsung Note, right?’ he enquired.

‘Yes, black. Singly owned, under warranty, no scratches, original box and charger.’ I proudly boasted.

‘Wow! Just the exact specs I was about to mention.’ He chuckled.

‘The price…’ I started but hesitated. I was unsure whether the price I wanted to ask was too much.

’20 thousand?’ He asked.

I could not believe my ears. That is exactly the amount I was planning to quote! I was going to crack the deal. Mehta had offered me 17!

‘Yes. Yes 20 thousand will do.’ I tried desperately to not sound triumphant.

‘Can we meet in Model Town for the delivery?’ He meant business.

‘Yeah, sure. How about tomorrow at 4 pm?’ I could sound business-like too.

‘Ok, Park Bakery then. Please be on time. I have to go out of station right after.’

‘I will be there. Thanks!’

I broke into a dance. This was easy!

The next day, I moved my sim to an old phone, packed the Note and reached the Bakery ten minutes before 4. Of course, the buyer wasn’t there yet and I utilised the time by treating myself to a small pre-success celebration of my favourite brownie and coffee. I deserved it, after all! At exactly 4pm, my phone rang and the door of the bakery simultaneously opened. I looked at the screen and took the call. The man at the door was also looking at me and we both recognised each other without having to speak over the call.

‘Hi! Good to see you.’ He looked like a college guy too, almost my age or a couple of years more.

‘Coffee?’ I asked.

‘No, I have to rush. Just got free from college. Got to catch a train in an hour.’

I gobbled the last piece of my brownie. ‘Of course.’

‘If you don’t mind, the packet is in my bike. Did not know if the bakery guy would be okay with the exchange.’ He pointed outwards.

‘Sure, sure. No problem.’ I picked up my backpack and walked out after him.

I waited for him to take out the money from his bike’s side box while I took the mobile box out of my backpack. He turned towards me, carrying in his hand a box identical to one I was carrying.

‘What….?’ Why was he carrying an old Samsung Note’s box? Had he found a better deal elsewhere and had just come to tell me he could not buy from me???

‘I don’t understand.’ He said. ‘Were you not buying the Note from me?’ He looked equally shocked.

‘You were buying it from me! You called in response to my ad.’ ‘

‘Yes, to your ad for buying it, not selling!’ He said.

‘No, you have it all wrong.’ I shook my head in disbelief.

‘No wait, I will show you.’ He fumbled in the side box and took out a newspaper’s page. ‘See!’ He pointed to the classified section.

‘Need a second-hand Samsung Note. Black, under warranty, original box and charger.’ It read and mentioned my mobile number at the end. I understood. My dear friend had conveniently forgotten to add a question mark at the end of the first sentence when he gave out the advertisement content and that had led to all the confusion.

I explained the same to the dumbfounded guy standing in front of me and we had a big laugh over it. We both had been talking about our own handsets on the call and we both had been delighted that the other had agreed to the price quoted without any negotiation whatsoever! Talk about the importance of punctuation!

I did not sell my mobile that day but the incident became a funny and memorable story I have often narrated to many. Had there been Cashify then, I would have sold my mobiles in 60 seconds without having to go back to Mehat ji the next day. I am sure he must have bought a phone of his own with all the profit he made out of mine. Learn from me! If you have an old mobile, laptop or any other gadget to sell, just use Cashify and sell smart. If you use the coupon CLEANCASH you can even get another Rs. 250 on the sale price. So don’t wait… #CleanUpCashOut Even Gabbar does that!